Geoffrey's TealogGeoffrey's tealog on Steepsterhttp://steepster.com/
Laoshan Black from Verdant TeaDrinking this presently as a day-starter before breakfast . Brewing it Gongfu style in my gaiwan. First couple infusions were more intense than I remember from my last experience with it. Perhaps I used too many leaves this time. In any case, it's mellowing out nicely on the third infusion. Quite delicious. Fourth infusion is even better, and nearer to what I remember from the first time I tried it. I'll have to experiment further with the quantity of leaves to reach it's sweet spot. My initial impression of this tea at a Verdant Tea tasting was that it offered what I would consider a nearly ideal black tea experience. I'll probably write a follow-up note the next time I brew this to round out the picture. Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:50:15 -0400/teas/Laoshan%20Black/20064-laoshan-black?note=84525
Hand Picked Tieguanyin Spring Oolong (2011) from Verdant TeaAbsolutely love it! I've tried this Tieguanyin on four different occasions now. First two times a friend brewed it to share, third time I brewed it for myself to drink throughout the day, and the fourth time I brewed it to share with a friend. Each time it's been brewed Gongfu style. This last brewing I kept the leaves in my gaiwan from almost three days and kept infusing until the flavor started to dissipate, which was likely over 25 infusions, but I lost count. The friend I shared this with on Sunday, who is only mildly interested in tea, was very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have about 1.75 ounces of this Tieguanyin remaining, and I'm definitely feeling that I must purchase a greater stock before it's all bought up. My experiences with this tea have instilled in me an unshakable faith that the person who sources Verdant's Teiguanyin knows what they're doing, and make me look forward to future offerings of similar quality. If Tieguanyin gets better than this, I can't imagine it, but would no doubt welcome the possibility. For the time being, this tea from what must have been an exceptionally good harvest is available until it's gone. . . . and the thought of that makes me anxious to buy more. Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:20:21 -0400/teas/Hand%20Picked%20Tieguanyin%20Spring%20Oolong%20(2011)/20060-hand-picked-tieguanyin-spring-oolong-2011?note=84528
Sun Dried Jingshan Green from Verdant TeaI was very impressed with this surprising new green offered by Verdant Tea when I had my initial chance to try it at Verdant's last tasting. I've now brewed it at home twice. The first time was last Saturday night around 9:00pm when I needed a tea fix with special and very specific parameters: something light and enlivening, but also calming and cleansing.
I had slept for most of the day due to sleeplessness the previous night and a brief illness that washed over me in the late afternoon and broke in the evening. My body was feeling pretty good after I ate something and then arranged to attend a social dance, as my body was indicating a need to move. The Jing Shan struck me as the most suitable tea I had for the circumstances.
I brewed it in the traditional Jingshan style indicated by the steeping notes that came with my purchase. Heated water to 175F, poured 6-7oz into my small glass serving pitcher, and sprinkled just under 1 tablespoon of leaves on top. Really fun and beautiful to watch these leaves dance! Many of them float vertically. I waited a minute or so and took in the very fine fragrance of this tea. Then I started pouring off the tea by stages into one of my 2oz drinking cups, holding back the leaves with a spoon. First cup was very light, crisp, and refreshing. Where the first cup was a suggestion of what the flavor would become, the second cup was its perfect assertion. It called for my full attention without any sharpness, but rather with a certain equanimity that compels one to listen closely. Sinking into this flavor there's a pleasant sensation that the tea is offering some kind of compliment you can't help but smile at. The best comparison I can draw to it is eating a ripe sugarsnap pea pod that you've pulled fresh off the plant. There is also a subtle quality of the ocean in this, which strikes me as giving it more kinship to a good gyokuro than to other Chinese green teas. I took my sweet time enjoying those first two cups, and by the time I came to the dregs with my third cup the strength of the tea (about 2oz of water steeping a tablespoon of leaves for 5+ minutes) was nearing the edge of my preferred intensity. Still plenty good, but not the ideal of that second cup. The Jingshan style steeping would have you just drink the tea straight out of the glass that the leaves are in, letting it grow stronger as you drink it. For my part, I found that I would've rather liked this tea to maintain the state of that second cup from beginning to end.
Which leads me to describe the second brewing of Jing Shan I made this afternoon, and enjoyed moments ago. This time I decided to follow the Jingshan style steeping method to a point, but try to capture a full 8 ounces of the tea in the ideal state I described above. So I poured the hot water in a glass tumbler and added the outlined tablespoon of Jing Shan on top, timing it to steep for two minutes. Then I poured the tea through a strainer into my serving pitcher. The results were indeed excellent, and quite close to what I desired to achieve. In this brewing I tasted more clearly the note of asparagus mentioned by others, and found it delectable. I think for future brewing I will experiment with steep time until I land directly on the quality of that perfect cup I had in the first brewing, trying 1.5 and 2.5 minutes to gain some perspective. On another note, I steeped the leaves from this brewing a second time in the same way that I've just described, and am happy to report that the result remained very good. The flavor didn't diminish much. I'm sure this tea could deliver a nice third steeping as well, but I've yet to try. At some point I will need to try preparing this tea Gongfu style through multiple infusions in a gaiwan, just to get a more comprehensive sense of it's profile. Perhaps I will post results of these future experiments at a later time. Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:13:45 -0400/teas/Sun%20Dried%20Jingshan%20Green/21312-sun-dried-jingshan-green?note=84564
Sun Dried Jingshan Green from Verdant TeaBrewed this again just now. The lingering aftertaste is heavenly, as was the fragrance of the first cup I poured. This time I steeped for 1.5 minutes and the result is exactly what I desired. I can imagine how this state might be just a bit too light for some people, but for my tastes it's perfect. I love this green! Planning to continue experimenting with steep time to gain perspective, as I may want it stronger in a different mood. Off to steep the leaves again. Great tea to start the day! Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:05:07 -0400/teas/Sun%20Dried%20Jingshan%20Green/21312-sun-dried-jingshan-green?note=84719
2003 Farmer's Cooperative (Mt. Banzhang) Wild Arbor Sheng from Verdant TeaBrewed this again last night in my gaiwan. I had left it alone for months. My first attempt at brewing it didn't go very well, but I'm now certain that the method I used at that time was wrong for this tea. Verdant's steeping notes for Sheng Pu-er generally prescribe 7 grams of leaves for Gongfu brewing, and I think I must have missed the note that for this Farmer's Cooperative tea a pretty big exception to the general rule is suggested. For this tea, no more than 1 teaspoon of leaves is prescribed for Gongfu brewing. It seems like too little when you're looking at it, but these leaves are apparently loaded with flavor. Verdant also suggests that you wash the tea twice before drinking any of it, and I think that definitely makes a difference. Following these guidelines last night, I found the Farmer's Cooperative deeply satisfying.
This is the tea I remember impressing me when I initially tried it at Verdant Tea's first pu-er tasting. I love the slight numbing sensation that it produces in the mouth, somewhat like menthol in its effect. Probably had around six infusions before I had to leave the apartment, so I haven't even reached the peak of its profile yet. It's still in the gaiwan and I plan to drink more as the day progresses.
Nothing else of detail to say at the moment, except that this is really an excellent tea! I'm glad I learned how to properly prepare it because the first time I tried (using too many leaves) I thought the tea was not so good. I was preferring to drink Verdant's Golden Strand Shou while I neglected this one, perhaps only because I was preparing that one right and this one wrong. But then they're two different classes of pu-er, and really suited to two different moods, so I'm not making a direct comparison. I'll have to return to the Golden Strand as well at some point and post some notes on that one. For a Sheng Pu-er, the Farmer's Cooperative has come back into my sight, restored to the great appreciation it deserves. This is a tea worth giving your attention to. Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:18:13 -0400/teas/2003%20Farmer's%20Cooperative%20(Mt.%20Banzhang)%20Wild%20Arbor%20Sheng/19246-2003-farmers-cooperative-mt-banzhang-wild-arbor-sheng?note=84721
Laoshan Black from Verdant TeaDrinking this again as I write. On my second infusion brewed Gongfu style. Used only two teaspoons of leaves this time, and it's a dramatically improved experience! I echo the malty and smooth comments. Regarding the very pleasant malt aspect in particular, I feel like this tea accomplishes what most Assam tea has been vainly struggling to achieve. This Laoshan black is so much smoother than most of the black teas I've tried, both Chinese and Indian. Only Golden Needle teas are its match and potential challenger in that regard. For me it has a vivid caramel quality in its taste; a very smooth high-quality caramel, not the cheap sticky stuff. Dulce de Leche comes to mind. The tea leaves themselves have a fragrance very similar to extra-dark chocolate, and I find this chocolate hint presenting itself more as a flirtation in the aftertaste, beguiling me to come back for repeated infusions. For a black tea, I am thoroughly pleased with this. It is indeed quite nearly ideal, as my first impression of it suggested. This tea just makes me happy, and I know that I will be returning to it frequently. What better praise can be given?
Final word, I think 2 teaspoons for Gongfu brewing is excellent, though perhaps it could stand just a bit more strength. I definitely overdid the leaf quantity last time (in my initial note), probably by an order of 2 or 2.5 (4 teaspoons perhaps). It's hard to eyeball 5 grams when everything weighs differently! By comparison, that encounter with this tea was a bitter disappointment, and I'm happy to have gained awareness of the mistake I made there. Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:58:34 -0400/teas/Laoshan%20Black/20064-laoshan-black?note=84978
Hand Picked Tieguanyin Spring Oolong (2011) from Verdant TeaHad a friend over for dinner last night. We prepared a basic Tuscan-style tomato suase with garlic, chopped nuts and shrimp, alongside some sauteed red bell peppers and zucchini, and a simple salad dressed with fresh squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. Super delicious meal, and I am grateful to have a friend so talented in the culinary arts. We washed it down with DIY lemon soda (just squeezed lemon into a glass and added plain carbonated water); an excellent palette cleanser.
As my friend so kindly conceived, purchased and prepared the better part of the meal described, and had expressed a sincere enthusiasm to experience some Gongfu tea drinking for the first time, I decided that the best expression of my gratitude would be to treat his generosity and interest to the two finest teas in my cupboard. The first of those teas was this Spring Tieguanyin, and the second was my Xingyang 1998 Golden Leaf Pu'er. I will write a separate tasting note for the latter, as I've yet to review it here.
As for the Spring Tieguanyin, before and during my preparations to serve it, I hyped it to the skies for my friend. He's a newcomer to this way of appreciating tea, but definitely has a good frame of reference for understanding it from experience with fine wine tasting and his culinary adventures. The moment I opened the vacuum sealed package and let him smell the leaves, he was just about knocked out from the beauty of the fragrance. We drank four infusions in bliss, and the tea was better than even I had remembered from the numerous occasions I'd had it before. How is this possible? I imagine that the feedback and reflection generated when a host shares his tea with a truly and fully appreciative drinking companion enhances the whole experience.
After a good number of infusions, I confided in my friend that when I was praising this tea to the heavens for him, I had a faint worry at the back of my mind, "Will it really be as good as I say it is?", but then when we got to drinking it the tea inevitably outstripped my praise by a length that I wasn't prepared for. My friend concurred, saying, "This tea is 120% of what you said it was." Drinking the next infusion, he expressed to me a very deeply felt gratitude for my providing him the opportunity to be introduced to this manner of tea drinking and tea culture. He said that he had felt for a long time in his life that an experience like this existed and was somewhere available in this world; and that it was something he's been looking for, but previously found no access to. My friend went on to characterize this first exposure to Gongfu style tea drinking as a life-changing experience for him. I can't explain how grateful and happy it made me feel to have some part in precipitating an experience like that for another person.
Needless to say, my friend there became a fully fledged lover of tea, excited to explore the great world of experience it provides... And that was before we even tried the exceptional Xingyang Pu'er! Concluding my note on the Tieguanyin, I will say that we continued to drink infusion after infusion of it for a good hour and a half. I have no idea how many infusions we had, but its flavor was merely settling, and hardly at the point of diminishing, before it felt like the right time to move on. I put the leaves aside in a container for later use, as I'm confident they will continue to produce good infusions for a while yet.
A tasting note on our experience with the Xingyang Pu'er is to come. I can't begin to express my gratitude to have access to teas of this quality! Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:55:42 -0400/teas/Hand%20Picked%20Tieguanyin%20Spring%20Oolong%20(2011)/20060-hand-picked-tieguanyin-spring-oolong-2011?note=85133
Xingyang 1998 Golden Leaf Pu'er from Verdant TeaI shared this Pu'er and Verdant Tea's Spring Tieguanyin with a friend last Tuesday. Refer to my tasting note of the latter tea for more backstory of the context. I will begin by saying that I've probably tried around 18-20 pu'er teas, and to date, this Xingyang 1998 Golden Leaf Shou remains the best of them. In a broader context, among the countless teas that I've tried (including all types and classes), this Pu'er stands out as an exceptionally fine representative of what tea can be, and is securely established in the top 3 best teas I've had the good fortune and pleasure to experience. When I give a tea the highest possible mark, it means that I consider it perfect in its own right, lacking nothing, and offering an additional something that I have not encountered in another tea. I trust that "finer" teas may exist, and indeed I hope to try them; but it is with this Pu'er that I feel we're talking about a level of quality at which the tea deserves to be assessed outside of relative considerations. Essentially, I would have to rate such a tea as being "without rank", as it and its peers are each embodying their own unique perfection.
Before I prepared this Pu'er a week ago, five months had passed since my last experience with it. This length of time was not for any lack of love or lack of desire to brew it, but because I refuse to drink this tea by myself and feel that it is worth being reserved for special occasions. The fact that I've only had one ounce of it in supply has also contributed to my reluctance, though I'm planning to buy more for the future while it's still available.
My friend had specifically requested a proper Pu'er initiation when we made arrangements to meet, as his few pervious experiences with this class of tea left a particularly unpleasant impression. He described having suffered the misfortune of tasting fishy, probably low-quality, Pu'er that was prepared with western brewing methods (no wash, 4 minute steeping). When I had told him of Gongfu brewing and what I'd learned about the appropriate treatment of Pu'er, he expressed an enthusiastic interest in trying it again.
I started preparing this tea after we'd grown sufficiently blissed-out drinking Teiguanyin for over an hour. The room was getting a bit hot so we opened the window and let the brisk night air flow into our drinking space. The previous day's temperature had been around 90F in the afternoon, and dropped a sharp 30 degrees within a couple hours in the evening. It felt like we stood on the threshold of autumn, and the Xingyang Pu'er being prepared was the perfect tea to take us through that gate into a new season.
The first infusion after washing the tea was excellent, surprising both of us in its depth, fragrance and delectable taste. Just taking in the bouquet of that first infusion gave me goosebumps. A sweet and mild spice, slightly cinnamon-like, tree bark and freshly fallen leaves. I held the tea in my mouth for ten or more seconds per sip; its taste and feel ran through my body with the softness of a quiet stream, compelling all of my muscles to sink in relaxation. "Oh my God," were my friend's first words. All I could say in response was a deep and emphatic, "Yes". Letting the aftertaste settle between sips and cups is an experience unto itself with this tea, which can unfold in interesting and exceedingly pleasant changes of character for over a minute. I remember most vividly this sparkling sensation developing after several seconds in the aftertaste, as if the awakened and stretching flavors of the tea were shaking off their 13-year sleep with a lively dance on my tongue.
The infusions that followed provoked powerful and evocative stirrings in our imaginations. My friend was overcome with recollections of early childhood: "Cedar crates next to the house of the kindest old woman, who was my neighbor in Japan. I was four years old and wandered into her yard." I recalled the experience of jumping into piles of oak leaves and watching the clouds pass overhead, then being followed by the smell of oak on my clothes for the rest of the day. We remarked on this particularly powerful evocative quality of the tea. It was not just evoking memories, it was opening doors to insight, as well as forming new deep stores for remembering our present experience and experiences to come. This is a contemplative tea par excellence. My friend suggested it would be a great companion to creative work, as in composing music or poetry.
After a number of infusions, it came up that I hadn't brewed this tea for five months, and I mentioned that it seemed to me to have grown better even in that relatively short time. My friend was surprised to hear that I could drink this tea so infrequently in light of how amazingly good it is. It was at this point I told him that I will not drink this tea alone. I explained that, for my part, I felt like drinking this tea without a companion to share it with would be selfish and wasteful. Not to judge others who would or do drink this alone, I'm just remarking on my own experience with it. To drink this Pu'er by myself, for me, would come with a feeling that I'm failing to serve the tea, in every sense of that word. I consider the opportunity to partake of a tea this good as a great privilege and a gift; and the only way I can completely express my gratitude for that is by sharing it with others.
My friend and I proceeded to enjoy this Pu'er and it's fascinating profile changes for well over an hour, and it was far from spent when we ended. This particular session was a peak experience with tea for me, and for my friend it was something akin to a conversion experience. Of the drinking sessions I've had with this tea, this one was definitely the best to date. I whole-heartedly recommend this tea, and would suggest setting aside some unhurried time to brew this with good company and your undivided attention. Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:08:58 -0400/teas/Xingyang%201998%20Golden%20Leaf%20Pu'er/20298-xingyang-1998-golden-leaf-puer?note=85601
Honeybush Hazelnut from Adagio Teas
This is a good evening or nighttime herbal drink for me. I love the flavor of hazelnut in general, giving this blend and easy in with me. The flavor here is particularly enjoyable and warming, as is the fragrance.
My one big irritation with this blend is that the herbs are so fine it becomes a pain in the ass to infuse with anything but an ultrafine mesh strainer, which I have unfortunately yet to acquire. When infusing this blend with a more standard wire-mesh tea strainer loads of herbal particulate pass into the liquid and it becomes a somewhat pulpy experience. Cleaning the strainer afterwards has proved frustrating as well, with many grains becoming stuck in the mesh. You practically need to use a fine brush to clear the mesh completely.
Alternatively, I've tried infusing this tea in a gaiwan and pouring off through the small funnel strainer I use for Gongfu brewing, as that strainer has a finer mesh, but the problem then becomes the leaves pouring out of my gaiwan with the liquid and clogging up the mesh of the strainer until it's completely blocked. Ugh!
I like this herbal blend well enough, but these frustrations in preparing it prevent me from drinking it more frequently, and from rating it any higher. Ideally, infusion should be a painless and straightforward experience, not a distracting and frustrating one. Until I get some kind of special superfine mesh strainer (or, God-forbid, empty disposable teabags!) to make brewing this blend easier, it will likely continue to be something I reach for only infrequently. That makes me kind of sad, but I'm already equipped with a good range of tea preparation utensils, and I think for an herbal blend to require the purchase of another special tool or disposable steep bags for its own sake is asking a bit too much. If this were a tea of exceptional quality, you'd be hearing a different tune, as I'm plenty willing to make special accommodations for something worthy of it. But this is neither a tea, nor an exceptionally high quality blend of herbs.
Final word: a pretty good herbal blend, with disappointing drawbacks on the preparation end. Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:17:52 -0400/teas/Honeybush%20Hazelnut/282-honeybush-hazelnut?note=85889
Honey Phoenix Oolong from Goldfish TeaGot this and three other sample packs from Goldfish Tea this afternoon, which came with a new Gongfu tea tray that I ordered from them. Decided to throw this Honey Phoenix Oolong into my gaiwan and start putting the new tray to work.
First, something about the tray... I like this tray well enough, despite some flaws I noticed in the workmanship, and the fact that the Chinese characters carved into the face of it were different than advertised. At any rate, I needed a new tray urgently, as my previous bamboo one had been used to the point of developing an irreparable rot in the wood (bad smells do not make for pleasant tea drinking). The new tray is made from pearwood, which my research indicated is pretty strong and resists cracking and warping with water and heat exposure; excellent qualities for the purpose. Time will tell how well it handles the daily dousing of boiling water.
This tray is the kind with the plastic reservoir underneath that I can slide out to empty the unused water. I thought this would be more practical for long-term daily use, as I can sometimes forget to empty the reservoir, and wood is just not a friend of standing water. I had looked around for other trays all over the internet, but found very few options. I liked some of the trays and boards I found on ebay, but was dismayed by the $40-$60 shipping fees and 3-4 week lead time. As I said, I needed a tray asap, and this seemed like a reasonable option. I guess I would consider this one my intermediate stage before taking the plunge on buying a nice solid wood tea board at some point (when I have the $300+ to spend on one).
Anyway, back to this Honey Phoenix Oolong tea. I have to say I find it quite enjoyable. This is apparently one of the customer favorites at Goldfish Tea's teahouse in Royal Oak, Michigan. It is also one of their premium teas (listed at about $12/oz). I can understand why it's popular with their customers. I'm drinking my fifth infusion of it right now, and it remains simply delicious. How to characterize? I draws a little something from the fruit notes of an aged Teigunyin that I've tried... Fresh, ripe apricot perhaps?
Their description mentions a honey scent and flavor note. Yes, it is there, but in no way cloying or distracting. I've had a honey scented white tea that practically kicked you in the face with the honey element, and badly. This oolong is in another landscape, far more serene, elegant and tasteful in its treatment. The front of the taste, immediately as it hits the tongue, starts at the high sweet regions then pleasantly rolls like rain down a mountain to the mentioned fruit notes growing deeper in the valley. I'm quite fond of the aftertaste, which settles on the tongue like a cooling breeze and makes me feel like I'm idling around in an apricot orchard. The flavor profile is pretty simple and straightforward, I'm getting the same experience just described with repeated steepings (I'm on the sixth now). It doesn't appear to be going anywhere new, but not that I object in the slightest to this tea staying where it is. I like it here, and can be content to journey with more adventurous teas another time.
This one surprised me, as I wasn't expecting to get samples with my order, and in any case, was not expecting one of them to be this good. I'll definitely keep this oolong in my gaiwan until I've completely exhausted it. I might even be persuaded to order some of it in the future. Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:57:56 -0400/teas/Honey%20Phoenix%20Oolong/22165-honey-phoenix-oolong?note=86933
Shaded Leaf from Mellow MonkBeen waking up to this tea and Mellow Monk's Top Leaf for the past week or so. Fine teas to wake up with! The Shaded Leaf definitely stands out as my favorite of the two, but I've enjoyed them both. Just finished a first steeping of Shaded Leaf, and am now beginning a second. For a Japanese tea, this is quite good! Creamy, smooth, beautiful, and yes, I do believe that Mellow Monk is justified in describing this tea as exquisite. From color and aroma, to the flavor, mouth-feel and aftertaste, it is thoroughly that.
I've been steeping it at the low heat suggested, but for much less time than what is outlined in Mellow Monk's guidelines. The description on Steepster recommends a 3 minute brew time, which I find a bit shocking. As it happens, the recommendation on Mellow Monk's website lists a 2 minute brew time for this tea. For my part, I've been brewing it for about 45 seconds to 1 minute each time, and I am more than happy with the results from that. At 2 or 3 minutes, I think I'd have to take this tea with some sugar, which isn't necessarily out of step with Japanese tea drinking norms, but I've practically abandoned sweetening teas since I started drinking Gongfu style.
A small sample of Shaded Leaf (enough to make about 5 cups) was given to me by a friend, and using the last of it in this present cup I'm sad that I probably won't have any more for a while. The price on this one is more than I want to pay right now. I believe it's worth it, but if I bought a green like this one I would want to drink it every morning, or at least quite frequently. And the thing is, this tea is too refined and cost-prohibitive for me to drink that way. Alternatively, if I purchased a 100g pack for special occasional use, I worry that some of it might go stale from neglect before I got around to using it all, or that it might turn green with jealousy as I give abundant attention to so many of the other great teas in my cupboard. It would be a shame to offend a tea like this. So for the time being, I don't think Shaded Leaf would fit well with my drinking habits or budget, but I'll be sure to remember this one when I'm feeling an unambiguous kick for Japanese green tea. Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:10:19 -0400/teas/Shaded%20Leaf/9667-shaded-leaf?note=87000
Top Leaf from Mellow MonkDrinking the last of my Top Leaf sample presently. It's quite good. I enjoy this more than most of the sencha teas I've tried. It's characteristic smoothness is very appealing. The deep grassy flavor is maximized with with almost zero astringency (at least the way I brew it: < 1 minute). It's a very refreshing and invigorating tea for early morning drinking. First time I tried this was actually at a tea gathering with friends in the evening, and having been away from Japanese green teas for a while, I found myself at a low tolerance to their higher caffeine levels (relative to whole leaf Chinese teas) and could not get to sleep that night.
Anyway, I find this kind of tea very well suited for the morning, especially when it's still dark out. Drinking before and during dawn is one of my favorite times for tea. It's a liminal and contemplative time, when I feel completely free of distractions. And I'm finding the Mellow Monk teas I've tried to be apropos in that space. Not just anything will do here. A more astringent sencha would be like the shock of a bad alarm clock, starting your day with a nervous jolt. I can't have that.
Honestly, I'm generally much more fond of the shaded Japanese greens, as I had indicated in my tasting note of Mellow Monk's kabusecha (Shaded Leaf). I enjoyed the kabusecha quite thoroughly, and this tea doesn't fall that far beneath it. I would take this over a standard sencha any morning. Though if I had my way, and money was no concern, I'd be going for the finest gyokuro all the time (which is really my favorite of the Japanese greens, far and away).
For the price, which is less than half of Mellow Monk's kabusecha, Top Leaf is much more reasonable for the possibility of drinking a good Japanese green tea daily. And it's certainly a tempting prospect... Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:08:25 -0400/teas/Top%20Leaf/9565-top-leaf?note=87111
Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe from Verdant TeaYum! This is so exciting for me because the little yixing clay teapot that I've been patiently seasoning specifically for Da Hong Pao is at long last giving back to the flavor of this tea. Gosh, I think it took six or seven extended brewing sessions for the pot to stop gobbling up so much of the flavor (greedy little teapot!). But my, oh my, this time the tea is just delectable, fascinating, deep and rich... And I'm only on the first steeping after the rinse! I've been holding off on writing a tasting note for this Big Red Robe because I knew I wasn't really receiving it's fullness until now. Hold on... [leaves to brew more].
Yes! Second steeping is soooo good. Oh, this tea is just getting started. Beneath the lovely light roast of this infusion I am surprised and wonderfully pleased to find an unmistakable fruit note that calls to mind luscious dark cherries. I love it! Aftertaste is rich and scintillating, a cooling waterfall mist floating in my mouth. And I can feel the tea generating a warmth further down, resting in the region of my heart, which is a fascinating contrast.
I imagine I probably would've been quite impressed with this tea earlier if I had started brewing it in my gaiwan, but I was really endeavoring to not get distracted from the task of feeding my teapot. I'm so delighted now that my little clay teapot is satiated, happy and generously sharing the bounty of this tea with me. I'm looking forward to many years of brewing Big Red Robe with this teapot.
I'm quite impressed by this tea, and I can see why it captured David's attention. I'll be very happy to make this my regular Big Red Robe. I have designs on a different Qilan Big Red Robe that I had the chance to try recently for brewing on special occasions. That one is in another category, and far more expensive, but it set my current benchmark for the best Da Hong Pao I've had the opportunity to taste. I'd consider this one the second best I've tried, and I think the quality to cost ratio of Verdant's Big Red Robe presents a very high value offering.
Super good! And now I'm off to brew some more. . . . Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:56:33 -0400/teas/Wuyi%20Mountain%20Big%20Red%20Robe/21313-wuyi-mountain-big-red-robe?note=87139
Dragon Well (Long Jing) from Goldfish Tea
Getting through the other samples from Goldfish Tea. This morning I tried the Dragon Well they sent me. It's pretty good. Not what I would call exceptional Dragon Well. I have to admit that my taste for Dragon Well tea was spoiled by one of my tea friends, who kindly prepared for me a sample of way-too-expensive-to-import Dragon Well that one of his contacts in China had sent him. That was purportedly "ideal" Dragon Well. This one is decent, but doesn't even hold a candle to that Dragon Well. So maybe the comparison isn't completely fair.
Don't get me wrong, this one is not bad at all. It's actually been pleasant and tasty enough for me to steep 5 or 6 times. Apparently, Goldfish Tea has two different grades of Dragon Well (choice and premium). The sample package they sent me does not list which grade this one is, so unfortunately I can't provide any insight on their grade offerings. Ah well... in summary, it was worth drinking, and made for a pleasant morning. But nothing particularly interesting or exceptional about it. Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:45:03 -0400/teas/Dragon%20Well%20(Long%20Jing)/22273-dragon-well-long-jing?note=87292
Yellow Mountain Mao Feng B from Goldfish TeaLast sample from Goldfish Tea was this Yellow Mountain Mao Feng. Been brewing it this morning gongfu style. The first cup was okay, but then it quickly grew on me with the second and third cups. I'm still drinking it as I write, and have probably reached the six short steeping now. I'm new to Mao Feng tea; this may be the first time I've tried one. Very light and mellow for a green tea, with no sharp edges whatsoever. Aroma, taste and mouth-feel of this one are all reliably pleasant and calming. What can I liken the taste to? . . . Hay comes to mind, but I've never really tasted hay and I imagine it's probably not nearly as good as this. I think if the smell of hay could be translated into a flavor, it would be close. Sorry for putting some synesthesia in the description, but I'm otherwise at a bit of a loss. It's not grassy or vegetal in the ways that other green teas are. In any case, I quite like it.
For me, it is in the aftertaste that this tea really shines. It goes into a lovely cooling slow-fade, which lasts for >5 minutes, and which I can more precisely associate with the flavor of good fresh-sliced cucumber. This is my favorite part of the tea; everything preceding is a bonus. Feels like the damp cool dew of an early spring morning is condensing on a grassy plain inside me. Quite nice!
I might rate it higher, but I've yet to gain perspective on whether there are finer representatives of Mao Feng out there. I suspect that indeed there are, and I'll be curious to try them when the opportunity arises.Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:59:06 -0400/teas/Yellow%20Mountain%20Mao%20Feng%20B/7870-yellow-mountain-mao-feng-b?note=87371
Honey Fragrance Phoenix Mountain Oolong from Asha Tea HouseSo I was curious about Asha's teas after reading some of the high praise its Pure Heart Alishan Oolong has received here recently. When I found out they were doing a Fall promotion and free shipping, I went to have a look at the offerings. I was definitely curious to try a sample of the Alishan, and also saw that they had this honey scent Phoenix Mountain oolong. The samples were pretty minimal in terms of cost, so I decided it couldn't hurt to try out some of Asha's teas.
I made a half ounce order of the Alishan and a one ounce order of their Phoenix Mountain. Order placed on Wednesday and received today (Saturday). Pretty nice for service! And my order included an extra ten gram sample of thier Yunnan Golden Buds tea, which looks and smells quite good. On the service side, my only issue with Asha is that I think their website is not user-friendly and could stand to be improved quite a bit.
So right now, I'm drinking the Phoenix Mountain oolong gongfu style, and am brewing up infusion five or six in my gaiwan at the moment. For this kind of tea, I have the reference point of the sample I recently tried from Goldfish Tea. I was quite impressed with that one, and wanted to gain more perspective on it by trying other Phoenix Mountain oolongs. Overall, I think Asha's is good, but that I found the one from Goldfish more enjoyable.
Comparing the two, I would say that Asha's has a richer body, with a mouth-feel that is somewhat syrupy. The fragrance and flavor of this one are stronger, but not necessarily better. There's definitely a familiarity between the two, as they are basically the same kind of tea; but I somehow feel that this one is lacking a number of the refinements that I experienced in the sample from Goldfish. The one from Goldfish definitely tasted sweeter, and had a softness to it that I found exceedingly pleasant. Asha's tastes a little blunt by comparison, and doesn't rise to the high sweet notes that I so much enjoyed in the Goldfish sample. The aftertaste here isn't as interesting either.
That said, I do like this tea and think that it's certainly worth drinking. I'll finish this one before I try ordering yet another Phoenix Mountain oolong to round out my perspective. Though for the time being it's making me miss and more deeply appreciate the first Phoenix Mountain oolong that I tried. If after a third attempt from a different vendor, the offering from Goldfish Tea still wins out, I may have to revise my rating of that one up.
To be fair, this Phoenix Mountain oolong from Asha Tea is half the price of the one from Goldfish, so I have to imagine a qualitative difference does exist between the two. For the price, Asha's is good, but it's not the best I've tried. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:01:54 -0400/teas/Honey%20Fragrance%20Phoenix%20Mountain%20Oolong/22387-honey-fragrance-phoenix-mountain-oolong?note=87808
Golden Buds Yunnan Black from Asha Tea HouseThis morning I'm trying the sample of Yunnan Golden Buds tea that Asha Tea generously included with my order. Brewing it gongfu style in my gaiwan, and have had three infusions so far. I consider the Yunnan golden needle teas, along with Laoshan black, to be the height of black tea for me. This sample from Asha is quite good! Perfectly smooth, as I would expect from a budset black tea. Mouth-feel is light and soft. Really a pleasure to drink.
But what makes this Golden Buds different and interesting for me is that it is a much more savory experience in fragrance and flavor than the other golden needle teas I've tried. I think Asha's short flavor description is completely on the mark. This tea has a fragrance and flavor very reminiscent of good cooked mushrooms. Its taste expands through salty and peppery territory in a rather pleasant way. The fact that I'm a big fan of mushrooms probably helps me appreciate this tea a lot.
The savoriness of this tea surprised me a little bit, because I'm used to golden needle teas that have a much sweeter profile. This one is an interesting departure from that. It's a very pleasant and worthwhile Yunnan golden needle tea, but not the best one I've tried. I would probably most often go for a sweeter one over this if a choice was necessary, but that's just because I'm in the mood for sweeter teas more frequently.
Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:24:06 -0400/teas/Golden%20Buds%20Yunnan%20Black/22255-golden-buds-yunnan-black?note=87853
Pure Heart Alishan Oolong from Asha Tea HouseImpressive! This is definitely the star of the three teas I received from Asha. I ordered a half ounce sample of it, while that was still an option, and put about half of it into my gaiwan this morning (approx. 7 grams). I've been using the standard method I like for brewing oolongs gongfu style: boiling or near boiling water, one immediate rinse, then three seconds for the 1st and 2nd infusions, and increase the steep time by an additional three seconds with each following infusion. I just finished my first thirty second infusion, so I've steeped this tea about ten times now. It has not let up one bit.
So the first couple infusions were very light, and I didn't expect much from them. The tea really started to get going on the third and fourth infusion. Here's what I've noted on it's characteristics:
(of fragrance and flavor)
Base-note: Exactly like Thai sticky sweet rice.
Mid-notes: coconut milk and orchids.
Top-notes: hints of vanilla bean and sliced almond, and sometimes hint of sweet corn
Aftertaste: Above notes persist and unfold over minutes to surprising additional fruit notes, like occasional flashes of light peach, sweet apple and honeydew melon. Also tingles in a pleasant way.
Mouth-feel: Very light, almost vaporous, and yet somehow still creamy.
It all makes me wish I had some fresh sliced mango to eat for breakfast alongside this tea! I'm really amazed by the kinship between this tea and the sweet rice in coconut milk that is served with mango as a Thai dessert. It's so delicious. Quite fantastic in many ways! I'll definitely be ordering more of it. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:29:49 -0400/teas/Pure%20Heart%20Alishan%20Oolong/22037-pure-heart-alishan-oolong?note=87942
Laoshan Black from Verdant TeaWhile I'm eagerly awaiting some new teas I've ordered, I thought I'd put in another quick note about an atypical experience I had with Laoshan Black over the weekend. On Sunday morning I woke up a bit late from staying out tango dancing past 1:00am the previous night, and I was in a big hurry to catch the bus to another tango workshop I had that morning. . . So no time for gongfu cha. :P
I thought I'd just brew up a mug of black tea western style, which is now a rare thing for me. I usually reach for any assam on hand (creamed and sweetened) if I just want an quick caffeine kick like this, but I had drunk a really good golden needle black tea the previous morning, and on the heels of that the thought of assam made me wince a little. So my alternative was to try the Laoshan Black western style.
Brewed about a teaspoon and a half of it in a mug for four minutes. I decided to try it plain first and see what it was like. Smooth and tasty! I could definitely have enjoyed the whole mug straight, but I also wanted to experiment out of curiosity. So I pulled out some milk and very carefully poured a very small amount in. It really doesn't need much, if you're going to use any. With the same care, I tried to sweeten it ever so slightly with honey. Not the best idea. This tea is delicate and transparent enough to be overwhelmed by additives, and the honey flavor will take over. Thankfully, I only used a little bit. If you're going to sweeten, very small amount of sugar would be better than a sweetener with more if its own flavor character.
In any case, it worked well enough, though in the end I think I would've rather had that mug of tea without any adulterants. Lesson here is that if you're going to add anything to this black tea, be very very modest. My preference for preparing and drinking this tea will always be the gongfu method, and that is what I would recommend to others as the best way to fully enjoy its wonderful characteristics. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:18:22 -0400/teas/Laoshan%20Black/20064-laoshan-black?note=88025
Hand Picked Tieguanyin Spring Oolong (2011) from Verdant TeaAmazing. Drinking this Tieguanyin again this morning. I had opened one of the vacuum-sealed 7-gram packs last Friday to share with someone, and got a little zealous in my endeavor to pour half of the package into my gaiwan. Looking at how much leaf was left in that pack this morning, it must have been more like 3/4 of the pack that I'd used last time. So I was looking at maybe 2 grams in my gaiwan this morning, and debating whether I wanted to open up another pack. I decided to just brew up the two grams and have a "light" session with it.
HA! Drinking the third infusion now, I could hardly call this "light" compared to my other sessions with it. Even with minimal leaf, this Tieguanyin still goes the distance. A testament to its power, richness, and depth. I can't wait to try the autumn picking of Tieguanyin that Verdant will be getting in soon, as it's purported to be the best crop in years, and comparable to this one in quality.
Oh, with this tea in my cup, it's going to be a great winter. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:25:28 -0400/teas/Hand%20Picked%20Tieguanyin%20Spring%20Oolong%20(2011)/20060-hand-picked-tieguanyin-spring-oolong-2011?note=88114
Yunnan Mao Feng from Mandala TeaDrinking this Mao Feng from Mandala Tea now. Quite different from the last Mao Feng I tried (from Goldfish Tea). The dry tea leaves of these two examples look remarkably different. The Goldfish leaves were uniformly greener and relatively straight, a bit like long thin pine needles. The leaves of Mandala's Mao Feng are a mixture lighter and darker leaves, less obviously green, and generally wavy in shape. Looks like a very different processing method was used to finish each of these teas.
[Edit: Take note of the comments attached. I've been informed that the difference between the two Mao Feng teas I describe and compare is due to their being from two different growing regions: Yunnan and Huang Shan respectively.]
The dry leaves here have a potent and sweet, fruity aroma. Interestingly, that sweet fruitiness is not represented in the flavor. The brewed tea is actually much more savory. After five infusions in the gaiwan, I would say that the predominating flavor characteristic of this Mao Feng is . . . . split pea. Yes, the brewed tea tastes and smells very much like split pea soup. Bold, hearty, and slightly salty, but never in an unpleasant way.
Fascinating. This is so different from the last one. Whereas the last one had me scratching my head in an attempt to associate it's flavor with something, this one has a flavor that I can positively identify. The aftertaste here doesn't interest me as much as that of the Mao Feng from Goldfish Tea (that one captivated me). In some ways I feel like this Mao Feng shares more similarities with the Jing Shan green tea from Verdant Tea, than it does with the other Mao Feng I recently tried, which surprises and kind of bewilders me. For one thing, the leaves of this tea look more similar to the Jing Shan green. They also share a slight affinity in taste; on top of the split pea note here I perceive hints of the asparagus note that is often present in the Jing Shan tea. By contrast, the Mao Feng from Goldfish had a much less vegetable flavor, was generally softer, and perhaps more cooling than warming. This one feels warming.
I like this Mao Feng, and split pea is one of my favorite soups. I don't know that I want it for breakfast, but I think it will be suitable for afternoon or sometimes early evening drinking, especially on cold days. The variance between these two Mao Feng teas is intriguing, and makes me want to try several more of them. I need to get some bearings on this tea. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:32:31 -0400/teas/Yunnan%20Mao%20Feng/22441-yunnan-mao-feng?note=88209
Ginseng Oolong from Mandala TeaI love ginseng oolong, and Mandala's offering is a good one. Had several infusions this morning. After about four 15-second infusions in the gaiwan, the ginseng coating fully yielded to the unfolding tea leaves. The flavor is as Mandala describes, "slightly sweet and always satisfying". The expected licorice-root sweetness is present, especially in the beginning when the ginseng is dissolving, and especially in the aftertaste. It's not as strong on the sweet side as some others I've tried, but that's fine with me. I feel I can count on this tea to be reliably enjoyable.
I'm curious about the origin of the oolong used for this tea, and think I'll probably ask the owner of Mandala Tea if he knows. I recently tried an exquisite example of ginseng oolong that was made, I believe, with high quality Dong Ding. That was superb! But cost-prohibitive. Also had the chance to try the same Dong Ding without ginseng coating and it was so good by itself that you'd wonder whether using it to make a flavored oolong was really a good idea...
Anyway, this Ginseng Oolong from Mandala Tea is delicious, and will be good to have with me through the cold Minneapolis winter.Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:16:29 -0400/teas/Ginseng%20Oolong/22443-ginseng-oolong?note=88317
Honey Fragrance Phoenix Mountain Oolong from Asha Tea HouseRevisited this Mi Lan Dan Cong from Asha. I have to admit that I'm less fond of it after a second brewing session, and with the perspective provided by recently trying another Mi Lan Dan Cong of better quality. My disappointment is primarily from the promise this tea extends when it first touches the tongue, but doesn't deliver on. I feel like it's going to go in a good direction initially, but it just turns south and leaves me with a little bitterness in the aftertaste. Had to revise my rating on this one... Not as good as I wanted it to be.
I've been much happier with Asha's Alishan oolong and Golden Buds, which are really solid and delicious offerings. Hopefully they can source a better Dan Cong in the future to stand with the other fine teas they have. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:16:06 -0400/teas/Honey%20Fragrance%20Phoenix%20Mountain%20Oolong/22387-honey-fragrance-phoenix-mountain-oolong?note=88477
Big Red Robe - Premium Grade Light Roast from Mandala Tea[Edit: Garret, the owner of Mandala Tea, has looked into the questions I raised in this tasting note. His supplier has assured him that the tea is indeed from the Da Hong Pao bush, but light-roasted in a style that is similar to the one typically used for Dan Cong oolongs. This clarifies the similarity I mention experiencing between this Da Hong Pao and Mi Lan Dan Cong. See the attached comments for additional detail.]
This came as a sample with my order from Mandala. I was excited to try it as my yixing teapot is dedicated to Big Red Robe. I had waited until a couple of my tea friends were over, and we brewed this up as the fourth or fifth tea of the evening. As it happens we had just finished drinking a lackluster Mi Lan Dan Cong (Honey Fragrance Phoenix Mountain Oolong), and when the first infusion of this Big Red Robe was brewed up the most peculiar thing happened... One of my tea friends tasted it and exclaimed, "This tea tastes like it actually is what that Mi Lan Dan Cong was trying to be."
I then tasted it myself. What!? Wait a minute, I thought, what is this? This tea, labelled and sold as a "light roast" Da Hong Pao, bore an uncanny resemblance to Mi Lan Dan Cong in its flavor, in its fragrance, and in the look of the leaves (when we compared the samples side by side). Could it have been a miscommunication? If we hadn't just tried another Mi Lan Dan Cong immediately beforehand, I might never have noticed.
If it really is a Mi Lan Dan Cong, rather than a Da Hong Pao, I think it's a pretty good quality one. This was unambiguously better than the Mi Lan Dan Cong oolong I tried from Asha, and also another Mi Lan Dan Cong oolong my friends brought over to try. The sample I tried from Goldfish Tea still wins out over this one, but I'd definitely be happy to drink this tea from Mandala any time. It's really nice!
But now, let me leave a qualification on this.... If the tea in question really is a "Light Roast" Big Red Robe, I'm kind of perplexed. The leaves are smaller, the characteristic smoky/roasted flavor at the beginning is absent, and it's just far from what one would generally expect from Big Red Robe. The only kinship this tea has with Big Red Robe that I can draw on is a fruitiness in it's profile that bears some resemblance to the fruit notes in a Qilan Big Red Robe I've tried, which was the best example of this kind of tea I've ever tried. This tea from Mandala and that Qilan Big Red Robe aren't in the same league at all, but it's the only reference point for similarity I can draw. It makes much more sense to me that Mandala's "Light Roast" Big Red Robe is actually a pretty good Mi Lan Dan Cong.
Anyway... maybe this will be cleared up at some point. Good tea, but made for some curious head scratching. [Addendum: In light of the insight that this tea is indeed Da Hong Pao, I am interested in trying it again and re-assessing it with that knowledge at some point.] Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:08:10 -0400/teas/Big%20Red%20Robe%20-%20Premium%20Grade%20Light%20Roast/18254-big-red-robe-premium-grade-light-roast?note=88688
King's Tea Taiwan Oolong from Asha Tea HouseDavid at Asha Tea sent me a sample of this roasted oolong with my second order of his lovely Alishan oolong. I just drank six infusions of it in the gaiwan, back to back. YUM! This is a very tasty and deeply pleasing roasted oolong. He describes it as having a flavor and fragrance reminiscent of coffee, and that is an apt characterization.
Honestly, I'm normally not all that into coffee. I love the fragrance of the roasted beans, but I'm rarely inclined to drink it. I could never steel myself to handle it black, and when I do go for it I typically tend to the fancy espresso drinks cut with plenty of milk and sweet stuff: like cappuccinos with caramel, lattes with hazelnut syrup, or a cafe miel. Stuff like that. In any case, my body has never really sit well with coffee drinks, and sometimes my lymphatic system has a bit of a fit when I drink them, so naturally I keep my distance.
The thing about this roasted oolong though... is that it has everything I like about coffee in its profile, without including anything that I don't like about coffee. The first and second infusions surprised me with a light and delicious caramel sweetness that grew in the aftertaste. This subsided for a bit in the third and fourth infusions, then came back even better in the aftertaste of the fifth and sixth infusions when I was steeping it a little longer. I find notes of roasted hazelnut here too, which I'm very fond of. The chocolate flavor in David's description isn't as present for me, but that could be partly due to my using a different brewing method than what he recommends. At any rate, with or without chocolate notes, I find this tea thoroughly enjoyable, and would happily order more at some point. I'm getting the sense that David at Asha has a very good taste for Taiwanese oolongs. I hope to try more of his selections in the future. Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:02:52 -0400/teas/King's%20Tea%20Taiwan%20Oolong/22453-kings-tea-taiwan-oolong?note=88816
10 Year Wood-Fired Tieguanyin from Verdant TeaWOW! Revisiting this tea right now. The Taiwanese roasted oolong I tried recently piqued my interest in giving this one another go. My first attempt with this was months ago in a very young yixing teapot, which was still gobbling up flavor at the time. I knew I wasn't really getting what this tea had to offer in that session, so I withheld judgement. I've just brewed this for about ten infusions in my gaiwan, and it's very impressive. I must say I love it! No time to articulate further at the moment, but I'll make a point of writing a more insightful tasting note in the future. Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:03:00 -0400/teas/10%20Year%20Wood-Fired%20Tieguanyin/20062-10-year-wood-fired-tieguanyin?note=88971
Laoshan Black from Verdant TeaBeen drinking the Laoshan Black again for the past two days. And I have to up my rating of it a couple notches. I knew this tea was special from the moment I first smelled the dry leaves. And now, several months later, it is proving itself more special than that initial impression.
Constancy and poise are keywords here. What follows might be a funny analogy, but I impart it in earnest, so please indulge me. When I'm drinking other black teas, I always remember this special one from Laoshan as that rare and truly great love. She fully knows her worth, but is very far above holding it over anyone. In calm fortitude, she knows that I'll always come back, and patiently tolerates my occasional carousing with other teas. Every time I return to her I recognize how in love I am, and also that I'm almost undeserving of her attention. . . . but she loves me. And so it goes.
Laoshan black is indeed my favorite black tea. What great good fortune that these farmers at Laoshan decided to "try out" the production of a black tea for the first time. If you ask me, it was an experiment touched by some kind of grace. And may they continue producing this tea indefinitely! Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:50:45 -0400/teas/Laoshan%20Black/20064-laoshan-black?note=89537
King's Tea Taiwan Oolong from Asha Tea HouseFinishing off the last of my sample of this one right now. Super good! No new insights to add to my last note, but I find this tea growing on me. And I think it is excellent for the price. I just checked Asha's website to order this one yesterday and found that it was sold out! I wrote David at Asha an email inquiring of the ETA on possible restocking of it, and he told me that ETA is unknown for now, but that there was actually one remaining 50g pack left that I could buy. Really appreciate service like that! David said this tea has apparently been a very popular one among his offerings. So glad I could acquire some. Knowing that more is on the way, I decided to brew the last of it now... to my great enjoyment. I hope Asha can get more of it in at some point. Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:13:16 -0400/teas/King's%20Tea%20Taiwan%20Oolong/22453-kings-tea-taiwan-oolong?note=89657
Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin (2011) from Verdant TeaI've now had four drinking sessions with this tea. The first three times were with friends, and presently I'm drinking it on my own. Always preparing it in a gaiwan with, more or less, Verdant's suggested guidelines for Gongfu brewing. Delectable tea!
I initially encounter a quality reminiscent of roasted nuts in the fragrance and flavor, mixed with green vegetal notes and a hint of vanilla bean. Complex! As the profile builds with successive infusions, these qualities yield at turns to surprising others: a little kernel of toasted rice, the aftertaste left by ripe grapes, sweet butter punctuated by a grain or two of sea salt, whispers of those long-gone lilacs of spring... It's all very fascinating, even as these flavors seem so divergent. There is something indescribable that holds the show together...
In fact, I feel like the flavors interact and move on and off the stage of a captivating theatrical play. So running with that analogy... in later acts, I recognize a lush juiciness developing, with notes of honeydew and plum on the long road home, being guided by this savvy prevailing peach flavor. Peach is definitely one of the key characters, as throughout the whole experience, even before making its first entrance, mention of it can be repeatedly heard in the discreet whisperings of some characters and in the lively repartee of others. What I mean by this is that, from the beginning, there is a sensation on the tongue after sipping that feels like the soft fuzz of a peach skin -- but it's not immediately recognizable as such. With continued drinking, the juiciness grows, the aftertaste deepens, then soon enough the presence of peach makes its grand entrance, and after each cup there's this uncanny sensation that you just ate a really nice ripe one. I love this!
Comparisons are inevitable, but I feel that I must assess the beauties and virtues of this Autumn Tieguanyin in their own right. Her dignity quietly commands it. The spring and autumn pickings of this tea are no doubt related, but they each have such unique characteristics that, for me, a direct comparison would be unwarranted. There will be more spring pickings, and more autumn pickings, and I'll let each be compared with its kind. If I could say anything about what makes these spring and autumn teas distinct, it would be that this Autumn Tieguanyin is like a more reserved, but more sophisticated, sister of the Spring Tieguanyin. No less beautiful, but she doesn't make the kind of head-turning display of it her sister does. She'll ask you to invest some attention and time in getting to know her, and appreciating her knowledge and intellectual charms, before she unfolds a full glimpse of her beauty for you. But this extra effort is wholly worthwhile, because when she does, finally, grant you that gift... my, does it feel special!
And I think I must spend a great deal of time sharing the good company of this tea. Her charms may yet enthrall me more than her stunning sister. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:15:25 -0500/teas/Hand%20Picked%20Autumn%20Tieguanyin%20(2011)/22988-hand-picked-autumn-tieguanyin-2011?note=90913
Laoshan Black from Verdant TeaOh dear... I'm brewing up the autumn batch of Laoshan Black in my new Ruci teapot ( http://hegathers.com/_images/rucipot.jpg ). This is the second time I've tried it now. I'm on ten infusions from two generous teaspoons of the tea. It has completely floored me! The first time I tried it, I think I suspected that this autumn batch was better than its spring predecessor, but it was hard for me to believe or imagine that the land and farmers of Laoshan could have taken my favorite black tea and improved it so wonderfully...
As I revisited that prospect this afternoon, the suspicion was unambiguously confirmed for me. At the third infusion, WHAM!, I was hit with that beautiful metallic sparkle dancing on my tongue that comes with Verdant's Da Hong Pao. Add to the familiar direction of cocoa, honey and caramel, notes of black cherry, and everything else mentioned in Verdant's own description (currants, hibiscus, buckwheat honey, cinnamon, raisins, and creme brulee crust... it's all there!). And the aftertaste is sublime!
This tea is so good that I'm afraid I'll want to start drinking it every day, and will perhaps become disconsolate if at some point I can't get more.... I have to rate this higher than the spring batch, and foresee the real possibility looming before me that Laoshan Black may in a future iteration be improved further and enter the rarefied circle of teas I consider perfect. I never thought a black tea could achieve a perfect rating from me, but Laoshan Black may very well do it someday. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:32:39 -0500/teas/Laoshan%20Black/20064-laoshan-black?note=91012
Yunnan White Jasmine from Verdant TeaIt's been about a week since I first tried this tea, and I've now had four extended sessions with it. Four times in one week. . . . that should say something about how much this tea has impressed me. It's had the same effect on everyone I've showed it to. People put their nose in the bag, take a nice deep inhalation and come up looking like one of Odysseus's doped-out sailors on the Island of the Lotus Eaters. This was exactly the effect it had on me too. Let me put it this way, with jasmine scented tea I normally take a whiff and think, "Bluh, jasmine, I don't want any." But with this one, I catch its fragrance, feel goosebumps, and think, "Mmmmm, jasmine, I must have some nooowwwww . . . ."
The taste delivers in spades. I would have to say that this is the most enjoyable white tea I've tried to date. Interesting comparison occurred today by happenstance. I brewed up some of this after I woke up, and did about 4-5 gongfu infusions in my gaiwan. Then I left the apartment to visit my parents' house for the day, and while there I took the opportunity to try another jasmine scented silver needle white tea that one of my mother's friends had sent her recently. The fragrance of that one did not inspire me, in fact it produced the normal reaction I mentioned. The taste was also nowhere close to being in league with this one, it was actually pretty bitter by comparison. Not entirely un-enjoyable, but it barely held a candle in the sunlight of this Verdant tea.
I came back home, now at the end of the day, and decided to brew up the tea still in my gaiwan until all flavor was exhausted. It took me another 5 gongfu steepings! So the general experience has been that this tea will typically give generously for about 10 gongfu infusions. There are so many things I love about this jasmine white, but I'll reserve for you the pleasure of making your own discovery of most of them. One quality that I can't help but comment on though is the exquisite texture this tea leaves on my tongue. The sensation is like a dusting of powdered sugar. It's heavenly! Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:30:22 -0500/teas/Yunnan%20White%20Jasmine/22979-yunnan-white-jasmine?note=91758
Honey Fragrance Phoenix Mountain Oolong from Asha Tea HouseOK. So I'm just finishing off the last of this tea in my cupboard. I've been using it to season and yang my young Huangni seal script teapot, which I'm dedicating to Feng Huang Dan Cong oolongs. ( http://www.hegathers.com/_images/ruci-close.jpg – _the one in the middle_ ). I threw all the remaining leaf from the ounce I ordered into the teapot (7+ grams perhaps) and have brewed up about seven or eight infusions. I feel like the tea is spent now, so I'm presently doing a final long steep for one last infusion to yang the teapot before I clean it.
I have to admit that this tea was better this time than the previous session I had with it; the bitterness on the tail end I mentioned the last time I drank it was not present. Perhaps the preparation technique I used for the last brewing session was off in some way (Dan Cong oolong _is_ said to be finicky in that way); or maybe my still young yixing teapot took off some of the sharp edges. In any case, it was a reasonably pleasant drinking session. This tea still doesn't reach the sweetness that I want from a Mi Lan Dan Cong, nor does it have the complexity that I want from Dan Cong teas in general, but it's okay. In any case, I think it has been redeemed enough from the bitter impression of the last session to warrant a rating jump. I've put it midway between my initial rating and the second one. This Mi Lan Dan Cong has given me a good sense of perspective for forming a clear sense of what I want and don't want from this kind of tea.
My search for fine Phoenix Mountain oolong continues. . . . Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:40:20 -0500/teas/Honey%20Fragrance%20Phoenix%20Mountain%20Oolong/22387-honey-fragrance-phoenix-mountain-oolong?note=92137
Yunnan White Jasmine from Verdant TeaI would just like to add that I feel this tea is very cleansing. Moments ago I finished drinking 15 gongfu infusions of it, back to back, in my gaiwan. I'd been daydreaming about it since this morning. Went and had the one big turkey meal with family this afternoon and started dozing off from the _happy mammal syndrome_ there induced. Honestly, I don't really care for the feeling of being that full, but in this case it was the day's only meal. All the while I was thinking about getting back home and having a nice, long, relaxing session with this jasmine white tea.
And how completely fulfilling it was! I feel cleansed, vivified, and totally free of worries. The tea is so pleasantly intoxicating I should re-affirm that the Island of the Lotus Eaters is an apt association. A great relaxation ripples through my body and mind when I drink this stuff... like light, semi-transparent, silk brocade curtains are doing an unhurried dance with the mid-morning breeze and making a delicate show out of the diffuse rays of sunshine passing through the window. It's enough leisurely beauty to make you _want_ to lose the whole day in idleness. Today, I'm very thankful that I have this tea, as it has been a great highlight for me.
Seeing that my supply is going to be gone very soon, I think I must get more. As a final note, I'd like to say that the staying power of this tea has deeply impressed me. Fifteen infusions to exhaust a white tea is amazing, and the lovely jasmine element stayed with it to the end! In the later infusions a delicious creaminess develops, I recommend staying with it to the end for that quality. It's hard for me to imagine ever wanting anything to do with a different jasmine tea after experiencing this one. SUPERB in every way! +1 rating jump.
Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:02:20 -0500/teas/Yunnan%20White%20Jasmine/22979-yunnan-white-jasmine?note=92180
Huang Zhi Xiang Phoenix Mountain Dancong Oolong from Verdant TeaWhere do I even begin? Feng Huang Shan (Phoenix Mountain) Dancong oolongs are probably the big obsession in my tea life right now. I've been gripped by a fascination with these teas since I tried my first sample of Mi Lan Xiang (Honey Orchid Fragrance) several months ago. That first experience immediately plunged me deep into a research mission, needing to know as much as possible about this kind of tea, and desiring to try the finest representatives of it I can find. I've since acquired a yixing teapot to dedicate exclusively to Phoenix Mountain oolongs.
Feng Huang oolongs have been called the doppelgänger of teas, speaking to their almost bewildering capacity to naturally mimic the flavors and fragrances of completely different plants, foods and spices. There are something like 30+ distinguishable "fragrance" (Xiang) varieties of Feng Huang Dancong, each coming from a different small grove of old and rare tea trees. In the case of a few of these fragrance varieties, the seasonal harvest is confined to merely a handful of trees, and it is said that there is only a single tree in existence for the rarest of these varieties. Aside from these extremely rare examples, there are about a dozen more commonly known and accessible varieties, the most popular being Mi Lan Xiang.
Many of the Phoenix Mountain tea trees, at the highest elevations (1000+ meters), are centuries old; and I think this is a significant factor that contributes to the fascinating complexity of these teas. Like the old grove Yunnan tea trees that are harvested to produce fine sheng pu'er, I feel there is very deeply layered and complex _terroir_ being expressed by these Phoenix Mountain tea leaves. The deeper I've gotten into tea drinking, the more I've become convinced that _Camellia sinensis_ has a capacity to express _terroir_ that is unmatched by any other plant. And it is staggering to imagine, in the case of old tea trees such as this, the consolidation of centuries of environmental effects, over the life of these trees, finding expression in the tea produced from them. Some of my peak experiences with tea have found this _terroir_ expressed with a sensory experience that the entire landscape and environment of a given tea's life is unfolding like a vision in my mind, at times becoming so vivid that I feel physically present in that place. One more thing adding to the fascination of Phoenix Mountain oolong is that the local communities of Chao Zhou and Shantou are reputed to be the birthplace of gongfu tea drinking. Given the nature and quality of tea that these communities had immediate access to, the possibility that gongfu cha first developed there seems reasonable enough to me.
So as for the tea in question, I'm writing my tasting note after having just had an hour-plus long session brewing this Huang Zhi Xiang over 20+ gongfu infusions in my Ruci pot. I've had about half a dozen sessions with this tea to date, mostly in my yixing pot, but I didn't want to say anything about it until I could set aside some time to sit down and drink it with undivided attention in another vessel, as my yixing pot for this kind of oolong is still very young and gobbling up a lot of flavor. The glazed Ruci pot was a perfect alternative for this purpose.
The dry leaves smell like orange flavored candy. Immediately on touching hot water the leaves begin to release a woody aroma that I associate with green young tree branches that are pliable when you try to break them and somewhat wet when cut into. When the leaves are completely wet, there is also a vague aroma reminiscent of sandalwood bark and hints of seaweed.
In initial steepings, the front-end of the flavor has a woody base with dominating notes of orange zest, more specifically – zest of blood orange. There is a bright finish on the front-end of this flavor, which could at first be mistaken for bitterness by someone less familiar with the various qualities of texture that tea can have. It is not bitterness though. This finish is a textural quality similar in character to the fine effervescence of hard cider, which sparkles on the front central area of the tongue. I would also associate this flavor/texture composition to some degree with _zhang_, a quality more commonly found in sheng pu'er, which I would liken to the profile of fermented juniper that comes through in the pine-like quality of gin. Interestingly, the initial sparkle of this tea is wrapped in a silky softness that comes forward after a few seconds and enfolds the mouth.
My readings have indicated that an intense "finish" in the foretaste is prized by the Dancong drinkers of Chao Zhou, who prefer to drink these oolongs with a huge ratio of leaf to water, often filling a gaiwan up to the brim with leaf. This Chao Zhou style of brewing looks for an intense foretaste followed by a deeper appreciation of the complex and enduring aftertaste. For my part, I'm using enough leaf to fill my small 3oz. gaiwan 2/3 - 3/4 full, which is plenty for my tastes.
The overall mouthfeel of this tea is medium-bodied, being neither thick and syrupy nor thin and vaporous. It feels buoyant, as if its edges are round and won't sink below the sides of the tongue without special movement to make that happen.
Aftertaste is huge, and unfolds over a very long time. This is apparently one of the sure signs of a quality Dancong. I'm convinced that if left to itself, and not covered by eating or drinking something else, this aftertaste could remain all day. The sparkle texture alone stays on the tongue for a surprisingly long time. Breathing stokes the aftertaste like a bellows, with the post-sip retro-nasal aroma release having potent effects. I feel there is a whole orange grove here! The woody bark, the ripe fruit, breeze and sunlight, even birdsong in the trees. Fantastic.
After ten or so short steepings, the tea seems to be waning, but don't be fooled! It's just changing and about to start giving out different qualities. In the later steepings, the sparkle texture expands to the side of the tongue , the body grows creamy, a melon-like flavor begins to develop, and then yields to notes of butternut squash.
This tea is invigorating, and will definitely wake you up and feel alert, but I feel it also has enough relaxing cha-qi to allay any sharp caffeinated feeling - like you might get with a CTC black Indian tea or machine-cut Japanese green tea.
All in all, I will say that I am deeply pleased with this amazing tea. For me this tea sets a benchmark for the complexity I want in a Dancong oolong. I love it! Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:38:53 -0500/teas/Huang%20Zhi%20Xiang%20Phoenix%20Mountain%20Dancong%20Oolong/23198-huang-zhi-xiang-phoenix-mountain-dancong-oolong?note=93172
Song Zhong - 2011 Spring Fenghuang Oolong Tea from Norbu TeaIt's a night to yang my yixing teapots. I just brewed up this Song Zhong to feed my huangni yixing dedicated to Fenghuang oolongs. It's really good tea, which I found more interesting and flavorful this session than the first time I brewed it. The first session was in my gaiwan, and I brewed it at the start of a gathering with tea friends the day I received the 10g sample of this from Norbu.
Honestly, that first time my friends and I all thought it was a pleasant and enjoyable tea, but nothing particularly captivating. This time, however, I found the tea substantially better. I'm not quite sure what the difference comes down to, but there are a number of possibilities that come to mind. Could it be that my young Fenghuang yixing pot is already giving back some of the flavor I've been feeding it? Could it be that the water I used that first time had been boiled even once before I heated it up (again) to brew the tea? Could it be that this time I was more attentive to preparing the tea along suggested guidelines for Fenghuang oolong? Perhaps all of these factors could have contributed something to the results.
The things I definitely did differently this time are the use of my yixing, the certainty of freshly drawn and freshly boiled water, and my following Imen Shan's suggestions for brewing Dancong oolong. Her guidelines were pretty rigorous and I tried to meet them as closely as possible. With new (current year) teas, her suggestions were as follows. . . . 3-5g of leaf for no more than 120ml of water per infusion. Use water at rolling boil for immediate rinse and first infusion, specifying that the water should be poured from low to high to make sure that the leaves tumble around (I did this style of pour for every infusion). Quoting her instructions, _"Force plus temperature will open up the leaves from aroma to taste."_ For the next three infusions, she suggests using water at "crab eye" boil, which I assume is comparable to 190 to 200F. Then when the leaves have opened up entirely use water at "fish eye" boil, which I guess is like 180 to 190F. I don't use a thermometer, so I'm just following my intuition with a boil-hot-warm progression in mind. For infusion time she provides a string of numbers that seems a bit overly-exacting:
bq. _infusion# / time-in-seconds_ : 1/15, 2/10, 3/10, 4/13, 5/13, 6/15, 7/15, then increase by +5 to +10 seconds for each additional infusion.
I have to admit I'm somewhat incredulous at the thought that Fenghuang oolongs are really so sensitive that 2-3 seconds of steep time can make a significant difference, but I recognize that Imen truly lives for (and by means of) these oolongs, so I'm willing to suspend disbelief to some degree. I thought it couldn't hurt to at least try taking this seriously; if it might yield a better cup of tea, I'll try it. Though for those first 7 infusions I basically figured approximately 10-15 seconds each time was acceptable.
As for the results, I must say that I found them to be deeply pleasing with this tea. As I said, my experience of it is noticeably better this time around. I think I'll have to experiment with this approach further on other Fenghuang Dancong oolongs, such as the Huang Zhi Xiang I just wrote of.
But coming back to the Song Zhong... this tea really started to get under my skin around infusion #3. I think Norbu is accurate in saying this tea has a profile similar to Mi Lan Xiang. This session I found zero bitterness or astringency in the liquor. It was always a heady combination of woody, sweet, and smooth throughout the 20-something infusions I drank. Fragrance to match comes out heavily when you breathe in and out while appreciating the aftertaste. Whereas in the first session my friends and I thought the profile of this tea was a little disjointed, this time I found the profile fully integrated and delicious. Strangely, there was a significant citrus note that didn't seem to mesh well with the woody base through the beginning of that first session, but I found that whole dynamic completely absent this time. It definitely has me wondering if the lackluster quality of that first encounter could really have just been an issue of fumbled preparation. _Maybe those seemingly negligible seconds do make a difference?_
In any case, this time around like last time, I thought at first that the tea lacked the complexity I appreciate in Verdant's Huang Zhi Xiang, but the tea proved me wrong. It doesn't lack complexity, it just takes longer than the Huang Zhi Xiang to reveal its complexity. The session was getting really heady around infusion #10, when I went to refill the kettle and wait for fresh water to boil. The aftertaste grew a lovely peachy quality given the time to unfold, then later it entered a very tasty lime-like territory. That's when I started huffing "Woah..." This Song Zhong proceeded to go the distance for another 10 infusions, and when I thought I was done I filled my pot once more for a long steep. Forgot about the steeping tea for maybe ten minutes, and came back to give my pot its final coats. I decided to try a sip of this tail end 10-minute infusion out of curiosity, and to my very pleasant surprise it was really tasty with zero bitterness. That's got to tell you something about quality here.
And in the end, I think my teapot was very pleased with the tea as well. I gave it two coats per infusion, and five or six coats on that last long one. It looks all fat and happy now. Nice find, Norbu! Wish I had more to try it again. Now my dilemma is what to drink next... Da Hong Pao or Shu Pu'er? Hmmm......
Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:59:10 -0500/teas/Song%20Zhong%20-%202011%20Spring%20Fenghuang%20Oolong%20Tea/21693-song-zhong-2011-spring-fenghuang-oolong-tea?note=93440
Imperial Breakfast from Verdant TeaIt's been a while since I went for a tea blend, but the recent tasting notes on this one stirred my curiosity enough to give it a go. I asked David for a sample of this when I saw him recently, and he was happy to send me home with enough for two drinking sessions. I just brewed it up in the past hour, needing to shake off my grog from the long caffeinated work day and night of dancing that preceded my very reluctant rise from the bed this morning.
I put two and a half teaspoons of this blend in my Ruci pot and proceeded with my typical gongfu brewing routine for Chinese blacks: immediate wash, then 5-second first steep, followed by +5 seconds for each infusion following. My initial reaction, the moment the liquor passed my lips on the first steep, exactly echoed the _one-sip-wow!_ that ssajami mentioned recently. There is a beautiful sparkling bite at the front of the tongue as soon as I take each sip. I implicate the formidable alliance of Laoshan Black, Big Red Robe and Xingyang Imperial in yielding this rich sparkle through their combined command of that quality. This is true synergy! The Yunnan Golden Buds further enrich and sweeten the deal, making for a very luxurious texture and flavor profile.
If my description of the above synergy is framed in the language of organized crime, it's because drinking this blend has made me a bit shifty-eyed, as though it were too good to be legal. I have tasted each of the teas in this blend separately, and they are all great and powerful teas, but I wasn't expecting (really... could not imagine) the indomitable strength that would come of their conspiring together. I imagine this blend is like an exacting and perfectly organized plot to execute a jewel heist of historic proportions... and all of its culprits managed to capture their loot and escape without a hitch.
This blend is super, and upon trying it I have new respect for David's taste... which is something I thought I already had the highest respect possible for. What an excellent surprise this was! I will definitely be buying a supply of this blend, and exploring more of the Alchemy offerings. Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:35:36 -0500/teas/Imperial%20Breakfast/22634-imperial-breakfast?note=94004
Fenghuang Dan Cong Black 2011 Late Spring Pluck from Tea TrekkerTea Trekker included this as a free sample with my last order from them a month ago. I had ordered 4oz of their aged 2008 Mi Lan Dancong Oolong, and a 15g sample of their curious Wuyi Shan Phoenix Oolong hybrid tea. I wasn't expecting to get extra free samples because they offer ample-sized samples for purchase, so it was a pleasant surprise to receive this Dancong Black tea along with another free sample of their Shui Xian. After sampling all of these teas, I'd say that 3 out of the 4 of them definitely interested me enough to consider ordering more of them in the future. The outlying 4th tea was also interesting, and enjoyable, but just not suited to my tastes for regular drinking; I'm sure others would find it great though. Anyway, it all further nurtures the trust, sprouted from reading Robert and Mary Lou Heiss's books, that they know what high quality tea is and are really striving to offer only that in their shop.
Anyway, this note is about the Fenghuang Dancong Black tea, which I found very enjoyable. The prevailing characteristics are a little hard to compare to other black teas. The main body of the flavor is unlike Keemun, Laoshan or Yunnan blacks. "Soft, sweet and fruity" is a pretty apt description on the part of the vendor. Those familiar with the basic Dancong profile will recognize its presence after the liquor has settled on the tongue for a couple seconds, or after a few sips. It's a woodsy fruitiness that I'm very fond of.
In the more generic Dancong oolong this comes through as a fruitiness reminiscent of apricots, peach, and grapefruit floating over a distinctive woody base note. But here, when the leaves are fully oxidized into black tea, these characteristics take on a darker palette and the fruitiness reminds more of black plum, black cherry, black grape, and touches of pear. Heiss describes "currants" and this is probably on the mark from what I can remember of their flavor, but I haven't tasted currants more than a few times in my life.
I got to try this two times in my gaiwan, steeping probably 10+ times each session. Honestly, I was sad when I reached the end of the sample, and took a mental note to watch out for other representatives of this one in my tea adventures. I'm very fond of this profile and like how it plays in a fully-oxidized context. Chinese black teas are typically the go-to thing for me to drink in the morning, and I like to have a variety of them on hand. Bring Dancong characteristics into the picture, and I'm going to keep coming back. I would happily add this one to my regular rotation.
On another note entirely... I've been MIA from Steepster for a little while, for a number of reasons, but most notably because I've just taken on a new full-time job that was extended to me shortly before the Xmas holiday, and I officially started it last Thursday. So I've been super busy. And if perhaps you're wondering why I haven't assigned a rating score to the present tasting note, it's because my new job is in the tea business. I'm now the Business Development Manager for Verdant Tea, and as I now have a professional stake in the tea business I've decided to no longer participate in the score/rating aspect of Steepster for reasons of fairness and ethical accountability. I have no interest in manipulating the rating system in our favor or against other tea businesses. The ratings I put up before working for Verdant will remain, as they only reflect my personal opinions as a tea drinker, but I clearly can't offer an unbiased score anymore and I don't want to make any secret of that. In any case, I do hope to continue writing helpful and interesting tasting notes without ratings from time to time, for our teas and teas that I enjoy from other businesses. These will probably be fewer and far between though, as I'm much busier now than I used to be, and I'll only be able to contribute here on my personal time. So that's it... I'm a professional tea man now. Tea has truly, at last, conquered me. Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:55:51 -0500/teas/Fenghuang%20Dan%20Cong%20Black%202011%20Late%20Spring%20Pluck/24402-fenghuang-dan-cong-black-2011-late-spring-pluck?note=99465
Golden Fleece from Verdant TeaI feel like I shouldn't even be talking about this tea. There's really no telling whether we're ever going to see it again. The Golden Fleece, true to name, has already developed a mythic eminence among those few who've had the opportunity to experience it. "Why?" is a question that recurs often. _Why... this inexplicable privilege?_ And the apparent difficulty of obtaining even a small quantity of this stuff only intensified the pounding I felt in my heart at the prospect of parting with any of it. Truly, when we realized how little there was, the temptation to tell no one and keep this tea to ourselves was very strong. But David was adamant, and the best part of me completely agreed, that to not share this tea would do it dishonor.
It has been my good fortune and great pleasure to try many inspiring teas, but this Dian Hong, which we came to call the Golden Fleece, immediately stood apart as one of the finest things I've ever had the chance to drink. I'm sure this will all inevitably sound hyperbolic, and in any case, it is known that I'm nothing close to an unbiased source on these matters... But I just want to say, for whatever it's worth, I'm writing this in earnest as an endeavor to draw out and unburden myself from the weight of the inspiration this tea has placed inside me. Apart from that, I can't see any other gain in writing about a tea that we don't have, and perhaps may never be able to obtain again. Whatever the case, I must speak... it can't be helped.
A little back story. David first told me of this tea about a month and a half ago, while we were still hard at work getting the new Verdant website together. I was surprised to hear him emphatically going on about "the most exquisite Dian Hong I've ever seen". It's not common to hear David talk about black teas in this manner; most often he's praising a Sheng Pu'er or a Dancong that has recently inspired him. I probably reach for the black teas far more often than he does, so this got my attention; but I was so busy at work on the website that I kind of had to forget about it.
Anyway, we finally got around to staying after work one Friday evening to relax and drink some teas, and he brought the sample of this Dian Hong out for us to try first. I remembered how he told me that the tea buds of this Dian Hong were extraordinarily beautiful. Indeed, on inspecting the plump buds closely I was struck by their beauty. Light shined off of them, glowing and golden, giving the appearance of something very precious. (Note: photos have yet to do them justice.) I observed closer and commented about how the downy filaments on the surface of these buds looked unreal, like I wasn’t even looking at tea, but rather was looking at the fleece of some enchanted mythical creature. Now, none of us really remember who said it first, but perhaps it's most correct to say that the words appeared somewhere between the three people present at that drinking session. What we do know is that one of us then uttered the words "Golden Fleece", at which point we all looked at each other and agreed that we couldn't call this tea by any other name from that moment forward.
So then David brewed it. I took a good ten or fifteen seconds just to appreciate the aroma of it in my cup. As a serious fan of gourmet mushrooms, I melted in the sensation of this fragrance, which was like walking into a large room where a master chef was laboring to perfect the finest mushroom soup anyone had ever prepared. I gazed into the pure, liquid gold color of the liquor and imagined all the very best qualities of morel, chanterelle and truffle mushrooms synthesized to perfection. First sip... a moment of silence... then the only comment I could make...
_"It's not even fair."_
The texture of silk, a delicate effervescence, as if an exquisite sauce had been made from the very spirit of Yunnan and poured over that platter of incredible mushrooms. An incomparable tea. Only a few sips of this heady brew and I was tea drunk. The tail and aftertaste revealed a sweetness like vanilla and honey. These sweet things seem far away from the savory qualities described above, but somehow this tea manages to bridge, no... encompass the spectrum of all these flavors in a way that is completely integrated, and hard to comprehend. But how it works doesn't need to be understood, because it works so magnificently. Further cups had me writing notes such as: feathery, lush, luxurious. And the spice of this tea, it's like pepper, cinnamon and clove, but it doesn't bite you – which I mean in the best way. The image that comes to mind is of a large and powerful enchanted creature (something like the forest spirit in Princess Mononoke) that has amazingly soft fur, and is completely at peace with letting you nuzzle and rest against it. That's what this tea is like for me... an encounter with the forest spirit of Yunnan.
It's only appropriate to know that all of this was wild-picked in Xishuangbanna. I asked David where Wang Yanxin could have possibly found such a tea, and he said she didn't explain much about that first sample she sent us. She only sent this one Dian Hong and wrote on the label, "This is the one. Best Dian Hong. Taste slowly." Indeed. There was no question in my mind about whether we should try to get more. Although, the possibility of sourcing this tea did raise some questions. We don't do grades of tea; it just doesn't fit into the curatorial rigor of our selection process and goal for the Verdant collection to carry more than one representative of a given tea, unless they're expressing dramatically different things. We were already carrying another very good Dian Hong at an attractive price point, and it was popular. The Golden Fleece, because of its rarity, would have to be twice the price of our Yunnan Golden Buds. And at that point, we didn't really know how much of the Golden Fleece we'd be able to acquire, much less how much was harvested to begin with.
After some careful deliberation, it was decided that the Golden Fleece was just so outstanding and unique that an exception could be made to source some quantity of it as a special limited offering alongside our other Dian Hong. The price and uncertain supply factors certainly made it out of the question for Golden Fleece to replace our other Dian Hong. And in any case, we found them distinct enough to exist side-by-side in a way that could be justified. So we ordered about ten pounds to be included in what was our next shipment at the time.
I vividly remember the day it arrived. I had more anticipation for Golden Fleece that just about anything else in the shipment. We were going through the box of sealed tea packages and pulled out all the ones that were labelled as wild-picked Yunnan budset tea. The red bags piled up in our office. We opened one of them to check, and in the first one found the Wild-Picked Yunnan Jin Jun Mei we ordered. Then we opened another bag and there was the Golden Fleece. The two Yunnan black teas were sent in the same colored bags with similar labels.
Anyway, I went home that night a bit drunk on the thought that we'd secured ten pounds of Golden Fleece. But then... The next morning I came to the office and David gave me the news. "I did a thorough inventory of the shipment last night, and it turns out that there's only two pounds of Golden Fleece. The rest is the Jin Jun Mei." Two pounds. That's all we could get, and all that was available apparently. "Will we ever be able to get more?" I asked. David gave the answer I was most unprepared to hear, "Honestly, it's impossible to say one way or another. When these two pounds are gone, we may never see this tea again." It was at this point that the temptation to keep it all to ourselves had to be fought.
When you love something, and know how ephemeral your time with it is... that one day soon it will be gone... that it may never come back... and you'll only be left with a memory to treasure... perhaps a pang of nostalgia... Well, let's just say that it took some strength to come to grips with the situation, and accept the circumstances as they were. Ultimately, David made the point, which I already knew deep inside of me, that we should be grateful to have had the privilege to taste such a tea even one time – and not take that for granted.
That week we had scheduled a tea tasting for about sixteen guests at our office, and we had raised some anticipation for these attendees to try the Golden Fleece and purchase some if they wished to. It was before we understood how little supply we had. The day before that tasting, we were due to make the Golden Fleece available for purchase on the website, and I had to lobby with David for setting aside an appropriate amount of the tea to be available for our local guests. After that was done, we put Golden Fleece on the website with the limit of a two ounce maximum quantity per person and watched it sell out in a few hours. The most limited-edition tea we've ever carried.
As expected, the Golden Fleece we set aside for our local tasting was nearly cleaned out by the end of the night. I like to remember how, when we brewed it for everyone, a good friend of ours was at the end of the table and I only had about half a sip left in the serving pitcher to pour for him on the first round. He was still grateful, and appreciated what he had before him with no less care. This particular friend is a flavor aficionado, with highly developed taste from many years of developing an amazing talent for cooking, as well as from taste training in fine wines. The look on his face when he took that little sip for the first time... how to describe it? He ruffled his brow in a kind of quiet shock and consternation mixed with obvious signs of deep pleasure. He turned his face to me, wide-eyed, and whispered, "...the texture ...this is wrong." To which I replied, "Like I said... it's not even fair." He nodded, quietly repeating the words to himself.
I've now had four sessions with this tea, always preparing it gongfu style in a gaiwan. It blows me away every time, and what further bewilders me is that none of us have yet managed to exhaust all the flavor from the buds. I've steeped it out over twenty times in a given session and it just keeps going, even into the next day. We always get waterlogged long before we're able to make the buds reach their limit... if they have a limit at all. My mother picked up some of this at our tasting, and she told me that she recently re-steeped it many times over for three days. The further I go into a session with this tea, the more its headiness gets to me; and in my tea-drunk musings I start to imagine that I'll never reach the end of it... because it really may just be some enchanted mythic thing that always keeps one of its feet firmly planted in eternity.
There has been rumor from Wang Yanxin that we may be able to secure more of the Golden Fleece. But after all that's happened, I'm not sure I'm going to really believe it until I see it. At any rate... if by some grace it does become available again, I can only suggest that you try some while you can – and taste slowly.
Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:15:01 -0400/teas/Golden%20Fleece/26684-golden-fleece?note=110443
Shui Xian Wuyi Oolong from Verdant TeaBeen enjoying a lot of this. Drank it again before going into work this morning. A few hours ago, I received an email from a certain lady that I'm very fond of. She asked me to send her a haiku. It happens that Shui Xian is her favorite of all the teas I've shared with her. On the bus home from work, I was thinking about the brief time she and I enjoyed with each other last night, and about the experience I had drinking Shui Xian alone this morning. The haiku came to me:
What could make this tea
more lovely? One thing. Your smile,
here, sipping with me.
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 20:37:33 -0400/teas/Shui%20Xian%20Wuyi%20Oolong/29089-shui-xian-wuyi-oolong?note=124543